The algebraic square of an irreducible complex spinor

Abstract

We characterize, in every dimension and signature, the algebraic squares of an irreducible complex spinor as a pair of exterior forms satisfying a prescribed system of algebraic relations that we present in terms of the geometric product of the underlying quadratic vector space. As a result, we obtain a general correspondence between irreducible complex spinors and algebraically constrained exterior forms, which clarifies the subtle relationship between spinors and exterior forms and contributes towards the understanding of spinors as the square root of geometry. We use this formalism to construct the squares of an irreducible complex spinor in Euclidean dimensions up to six, and also to construct the squares of a generic, possibly non-pure and non-unit, irreducible complex chiral spinor in eight Euclidean dimensions. Elaborating on this result, we consider a natural notion of spinorial instanton that we study for connections on a principal bundle with a complex structure group as well as for curvings of a $\mathbb{C}^{\ast}$-bundle gerbe defined on a Lorentzian six-manifold.